Not sure how to most effectively leverage and measure your mobile marketing campaigns? Well, you’re not alone. While mobile is an incredible new way to distribute content and reach customers on the go, it also presents a unique challenge when it comes to measuring the impact of our mobile efforts (like applications, advertisements or mobile-optimized websites).
We just wanted to remind you to tune in this week to Google’s Think Mobile webinar, Mobile Advertising: Right Person, Right Time, Right Message - Finally!, led by Avinash Kaushik, Digital Marketing Evangelist. Avinash will share tips and best practices for mobile marketing campaigns, new metrics unique to mobile, and how best to measure mobile ads and websites.
When: Wednesday, November 2, 2011 9-10:30am PST/ 12-1:30pm EST
HP launched a campaign to build awareness and preference for its ink cartridge products. As part of the digital marketing program, HP took advantage of Google’s mobile rich media capabilities to engage consumers on smartphones and tablets.
The rich media ads featured a short interactive game that HP developed for Android and iOS phones and tablets. Users could drag their fingertips across the screen to guide a net and capture floating butterflies and score points for coupon savings while learning about the HP supplies value proposition.
As it turned out, HP’s playful mobile experience yielded impressive results. Within seven weeks, HP drove significant engagement with consumers. The campaign, executed with the help of mobile agency Airwave, resulted in:
Over 400,000 games played
15% of consumers replaying the game
Over 26,000 video views
HP took notice of the mobile engagement rates and are now considering other ways to take advantage of the rich creative palettethat mobile can provide. According to Tariq Hassan, VP WW Marketing and Communications at HP, “Our customers are looking to mobile devices for entertainment as well as education. Through this collaboration with Google, we were able to deliver both at the same time, giving our customers valuable information about our products in a fun and engaging way.”
Posted by Kevin Otsuka, Associate Product Marketing Manager, Mobile Ads
Did you know that 33 % of the Spanish population actually has a smartphone (Ipsos GmbH & TNS Infratest)? Through the recently released research site ourmobileplanet.com we have seen that among major European countries Spain is now leading the smartphone revolution. The study reveals that in terms of parallel media usage, 50 % of Spanish smartphone users are actively browsing the Internet while listening to music and 35 % of users are in fact using the Internet on another device simultaneously. The Spanish are also actively using their mobile when searching their neighbourhood; 55 % have looked up directions or used a map and 45 % have performed a local search for a business.
Spain has highest smartphone penetration in Europe
And how are companies responding to this situation? During Think Mobile we held a few weeks ago in Madrid, eDreams & Telepizza shared how they are building their mobile strategy and The Cocktail highlighted mobile trends and the new mobile user experience in Spain. An example we mentioned earlier on this blog is Meliá Hotels International, who have seen an increase in mobile transactions by twelve since they launched their mobile site. Although we have these great examples of companies who are embracing mobile, our internal data shows that only 10 % of large companies in Spain have developed a mobile website.
Alberto Knapp, CEO of Cocktail presenting at Think Mobile
Therefore, to catch up with the mobile user, businesses need to go mobile now. Find out how with the presentations and mobile research statistics from Think Mobile Spain.
Posted by Frank Albert Coates, Product Marketing Manager, Mobile ads & Laura Abarquero, Head of Mobile advertising Spain
Not sure how to most effectively leverage and measure your mobile marketing campaigns? Well, you’re not alone. While mobile is an incredible new way to distribute content and reach customers on the go, it also presents a unique challenge when it comes to measuring the impact of our mobile efforts (like applications, advertisements or mobile-optimized websites).
Tune in on November 2nd for Google’s Think Mobile webinar, Mobile Advertising: Right Person, Right Time, Right Message - Finally!, led by Avinash Kaushik, Digital Marketing Evangelist. Avinash will share tips and best practices for mobile marketing campaigns, new metrics unique to mobile, and how best to measure mobile ads and websites.
When: Wednesday, November 2, 2011 9-10:30am PST/ 12-1:30pm EST
Yesterday on the Official Google Blog, we talked about the momentum we’re seeing in mobile search advertising. We also announced a new mobile search ad product - custom search ads in mobile apps. We wanted to give some more details about this new format and how developers can begin using it to grow their businesses on mobile.
Today, an entire world of mobile apps connect users with information via search functionality. These apps do a great job delivering useful information about everything from travel plans, to nearby restaurants, to shopping services, and much more.
We wanted to develop a way for these app developers to make money and grow their businesses more effectively with mobile ads. With Custom Search Ads in Android and iOS applications, we're bringing the power of search ads to the world of mobile apps. Apps that provide a search experience will also be able to show ads related to those searches. Users will receive ads relevant to what they're looking for, and our developer partners will have a new tool to monetize their great content and services.
Because so many mobile apps contain custom search functions, they usually ask consumers to search within a variety of specific parameters. For example, in the search below, the user is looking for Thai restaurants, in a given price range and location, with a certain dress code. These parameters help determine what ad is shown, and will help deliver the most relevant ad for a user’s query - in this case, a restaurant called ‘Tasty Thai’.
App developers are able to customize the look and feel of the ads to complement the app design and layout by modifying details like the font size, background color, and gradient. Ad placement is also customizable and can be fixed to the frame or embedded within the search results to save space. The images below are two examples of how a developer could customize the same ad to fit with the content of their page.
Custom Search ads can also be integrated into mobile websites with the same customization features and options available on mobile apps. Mobile publishers and app developers who are interested in showing search ads can apply now on the Custom Search Ads page.
Posted by: Linus Chou, Product Manager, Mobile Ads
Mobile search helps people find what they need in a snap. Whether they’re choosing between two restaurants, shopping for a new watch, or buying a movie ticket, people make better decisions when they have access to more information. Search ads are information—answers—and on mobile devices, they’re able to connect people and businesses in new, useful and relevant ways.
Today, we’re unveiling new mobile search ad formats and some new details about the ways many different businesses are benefiting from mobile advertising.
Search ads, meet mobile apps We’re bringing the worlds of search and apps together with mobile advertising in a few ways:
Search ads in mobile apps: Lots of mobile apps give people the ability to search for information—like an app that lets you search for a restaurant nearby. Today we’re announcing Custom Search Ads for these apps. These ads provide useful and relevant answers, for people searching within a mobile app. Custom search ads will also help app developers earn more money to fund their apps and grow their businesses on mobile. Developers interested can request permission here.
Custom Search Ads in mobile apps
Click to Download: Not surprisingly, many people use Google to search for information about mobile apps. This ad format helps consumers right when they searching for information about an app, linking them directly to the App Store or Android Marketplace to download. We’ve recently enabled app developers to include app icons and information about the app in their ad unit so that people can make more informed decisions about whether they want to download the app.
Mobile App Extensions: This new, beta ad unit enables businesses to use mobile search ads to direct someone to a page within a mobile app already installed on their phone. For example, if someone searches for sneakers on a mobile device, they might see an ad that takes them directly into a cool shopping app they’ve installed on their phone.
Local search ads—so hot right now Building local context into mobile ads makes them more useful both for both consumers and businesses. Here are a few specific examples:
Click to Call: We introduced these ads for high-end smartphones less than two years ago and now they are now driving millionsof calls per week to hundreds of thousands of businesses around the world. Click to call ads have been very effective in generating leads for businesses of all sizes, across many verticals—more people can call an Enterprise Rent-A-Car near them for rentals and more potential customers can connect with ADT Security for alarm system expertise, for example.
Hyperlocal search ads:Launched a year ago, these search ads contain useful local information like phone numbers, driving directions, a number to click and call a business directly, and also show people how far they are from specific business locations. Roy’s Restaurants’ efforts with this format led to a 40 percent increase in call volume—and lots more full tables!
Proximity as a factor in mobile search ads ranking: The distance between a person and an advertiser’s business location is now a factor in mobile search ads ranking. This means an ad for a business with a physical location close to to a consumer may perform better in AdWords—driving more mobile traffic at a lower cost. The feature will be effective only when consumers opt in to share their device location for mobile searches. It will make our hyperlocal format more useful for businesses and users—advertisers can get started with this by creating Location Extensions for their mobile campaigns. Particularly this holiday season, when consumers are using their mobile phones to find a nearby store for last minute gift purchases, this new feature will help connect customers with storefronts.
Circulars: We began testing this new ad format with Best Buy and Macy’s earlier this month. When someone clicks on a search or display ad (on desktop, mobile or tablet devices), they may see these engaging ads which contain photos of relevant products and special offers. With a few simple clicks, people who are at their desk can email that circular to their mobile phones, and later walk into their local store, flash their phone and redeem the offers.
Macy’s Circular Ads on Mobile
The exciting thing for mobile users and businesses is that we’re genuinely just getting started. The possibilities for mobile search advertising are nearly endless and we’re looking forward to helping businesses and consumers alike take advantage of this brave new (mobile) world.
Posted by: Surojit Chatterjee, Senior Product Manager, Mobile Ads Update: Developers interested can request permission here.
With 20 million smartphones in Italy and an increase of 52% compared to 2010 (Nielsen, Q1 2011), smartphones are radically changing interactions between businesses and consumers. However, most companies have not yet adapted their digital strategy for the mobile world. This is why two weeks ago we gathered more than 700 executives and developers from the mobile ecosystem in Italy for Think Mobile in Milan.
Partner panel with Citroen, Wind, Unicredit, Fiat and Digitouch sharing their mobile strategies at Think Mobile Italy.
During the panel on mobile strategies, several partners highlighted the fact that you need to be mobile ready now. Vittorio Veltroni, General Director, Digital Division, at Mondadori states that mobile is no longer a space for experiments for the industry. For Fiat, Maurizio Spagnulo, Marketing Communication Director, clarifies that mobile gives them the opportunity to be close to their customers 24/7.
For mobile advertising, Italy leads globally with Italians having a high awareness of mobile ads; 72% of Italian smartphone users notice mobile advertising with search engines and video websites having the highest advertising recall (Ipsos GmbH & TNS Infratest). In addition, half of these users actually perform an action after seeing the ad. On an overall level, Italy has one of the highest acceptance rates of mobile ads by users with 37% open to receiving ads on their smartphone.
Italy with highest acceptance of mobile ads
M-commerce is already a reality in Italy; 23% of smartphone owners said they had already made a purchase via mobile and Italy together with Japan are among the major markets globally with highest expected increase in mobile purchase in the next 12 months. As innovative developers are key to driving m-commerce, at Think Mobile we hosted specific sessions to grow the local developer community with more than 250 Italian mobile developers attending. To promote mobile app creation, we launched the Guide to the App Galaxy in Italian with a local case study from Il Meteo.
Are you ready to go mobile in Italy? Find out how to with the presentations and videos from Think Mobile Italy.
Posted by Frank Albert Coates, Product Marketing Manager, Mobile Ads & Dario Mancini, Country Head Mobile Sales Italy
We recently launched new consumer and advertising research that demonstrates why brands should extend their marketing across all screens -- TVs, PCs, phones and tablets.
We’re excited to share details on a recent success story that demonstrates how brands can shine with multi-screen branding. Reebok wanted to promote the launch of its new lineup of lightweight, high-performance shoes, RealFlex.
Reebok’s agency, Carat, worked with Google to extend Reebok video creatives across all digital platforms and drive branding across YouTube for PC & Mobile, and mobile rich media on AdMob. In addition to driving awareness and engagement, Reebok drove conversions with savvy targeting levers such as contextual targeting and remarketing.
The multi-screen approach yielded impressive results:
YouTube masthead ads led to 131% lift in brand conversions (i.e., site visits and searches for Reebok brand)
YouTube In-Stream ads resulted in interaction rates 27% higher than Reebok’s internal benchmarks
AdMob tablet rich media led to interactions rates 5x higher than Reebok’s internal benchmarks
Contextual targeting on the Google Display Network led to CTRs 9x Reebok’s internal benchmarks
Check out this video to learn more and see how Reebok successfully adapted its TV creatives across digital platforms.
Posted by Ben Chung, Product Marketing Manager, Mobile Ads
We caught up with Rachel Pasqua of iCrossing to discuss her clients’ increasingly strong interest in mobile search marketing, as well as trends in mobile content development.
is a global agency that helps CMOs build connected brands. The company recently expanded its presence to Latin America and Spain with the acquisition of Wallaby Group, rebranded as iCrossing Latin America/Spain. And in 2011, Melissa Parrish of Forrester Research cited iCrossing’s mobile advertising capabilities in the May 16 report, Agencies Deliver Strategic Mobile Display Expertise.
As VP of Mobile, Rachel Pasqua works closely with iCrossing’s clients to guide their mobile search and display strategies. She has offered to share insight on what’s working and the many options brands now have for making the most of mobile:
Google Mobile Ads (GMA):What mobile changes and trends have you seen with your clients in the past year? Rachel Pasqua (RP): Every year, mobile becomes more and more important to our business and the brands we work with. 2011 definitely represented a leap forward with the momentum gained for mobile. At the beginning of 2010, most of our clients saw roughly 10% of their overall site traffic coming from mobile devices -- and about 50% of that mobile traffic came from smartphones (mostly from the iPhone). Fast-forward to today, and most of our clients across all verticals see about 20% of their traffic coming from mobile devices, and the majority of those devices consist of high-end smartphones and tablets.
The acceleration in traffic has pushed mobile much higher up on our clients’ agendas. Mobile users are arriving in greater numbers, spending more time and performing more key actions than ever before. Clients are looking at these factors and 50% growth of mobile traffic over the past 18 months and realizing that it’s critical to support their customers on their platforms of choice - desktop AND mobile. Many of them are turning to us for help in building their mobile web sites but what we find most interesting is that even more of them are asking us to help them figure out their mobile strategy - web, apps, search and everything in between.
Almost every single client is running mobile search campaigns. The clients with mobile sites and mobile apps are investing significantly - it’s not just small test budgets anymore. Our clients are embracing mobile as a source of creating compelling content and, as a result, are focused on developing marketing content for smartphone browsers and for tablets as well.
GMA:How are your clients tackling the challenge of creating mobile content? RP: From iCrossing’s perspective, the two main options a client has are hosted sites, third party platforms that render a mobile version of your .com site and integrated sites, an approach wherein the existing .com CMS is used to render mobile content.
The easiest and quickest option is to work with an external, hosted mobile web platform. These vendors usually offer a reverse proxy service that mobilizes your existing web site in real time and maintain it on a monthly basis. They are extremely appealing to marketing managers in that they can usually get you up and running in 4-6 weeks and require little or no involvement with your IT team. However, they have limitations in terms of tracking, SEO and the types of user experiences they can support.
The alternate route is to integrate mobile content into your existing web environment. For brands already utilizing a content management system, this route is often very possible and the most practical long term from the standpoint of cost and maintenance. A web environment that hosts both mobile and desktop content enables you to update content simultaneously across all platforms. The consolidated maintenance is far more time and cost-effective and enables you to fluidly address new platforms as they emerge by simply adding new templates to your CMS. This approach also enables you to create the richer, more app-like interfaces that are so appealing to users now. The Toyota Touch (http://touch.toyota.com) site built by iCrossing is a great example of this app-like mobile web approach.
Which route a client takes depends on factors such as budget, marketing goals, and upcoming plans for web site redesigns. The important thing is to create the best possible experience and most relevant content for your mobile users.
GMA:Do you need to have mobile content before you can consider experimenting with mobile search marketing? RP: Not necessarily. We do strongly recommend to our clients that they create the best possible mobile experience, and most of them have either done so already or are in the process. A lack of mobile content right now doesn’t mean you can’t see success with mobile advertising - but good mobile content will yield the very best results.
GMA: If you’re in the process of developing a mobile site but only have desktop content available at present, what are your best options for increasing your presence on mobile? RP: The single most important thing to do is to create specific, mobile-only campaigns. We’ve seen a remarkable before and after difference in click-through rates to these devices when we do so for brands that don’t yet have mobile content. You should also be prepared to set aggressive initial bids for these campaigns to ensure that your ads reach the top 1-2 positions. Reaching those top two spots is crucial for optimal ROI on your campaigns. Another highly effective thing you can do if you have a local business or any type of brick-and-mortar presence is to claim your Google Places listing. So much of mobile traffic is local, and claiming your Google Places listing is a quick and easy win.
Keep in mind that if your desktop site performs very well on a mobile device, you can probably test drive many of the more sophisticated mobile advertising options. If it doesn’t, you’re probably wise to start small. Observe the behavior of your mobile visitors and apply what you learn to your mobile content development efforts.
GMA:What advice do you have for brands that do have mobile content and are ready to really invest in the mobile search opportunity? RP: Bidding to reach and maintain that optimal first or second position on a mobile search results page is the most important recommendation. Mobile is competitive so prepare to bid 2x higher to mange to the 1st and 2nd positions and then maintain from there. Another top level recommendation that applies to brands across every vertical is to use broad match and brand keywords to maximize impressions.
Be sure to utilize analytics and conversion tracking since this enables you to test how effective your ads are and if they result in specific site activities. Make note of what mobile users do, where they come from and how their behavior differs from desktop users, then apply what you’ve learned to subsequent campaigns.
Understanding these mobile behavior patterns is crucial because your customers may have very different objectives in mind when searching via mobile so you can’t assume they will respond to the same calls to action as they will on the desktop. For instance, if you are a retail brand with brick and mortar storefronts, it is fair to assume that a smartphone user who just googled your closest location is much more likely to respond to a limited time offer than a desktop user who may be much further back in the purchase funnel. Tailor your ads to what you know about the mobile context and about your own users in particular.
GMA: What about the ads themselves - what makes for a strong and effective mobile ad? RP: First and foremost, a mobile specific call to action. For example, we see terrific success for many of our clients with click-to-call on mobile ads. It’s important to understand all the action your users are most likely to perform when searching for your business on a mobile device whether it being clicking to call, clicking to an offer, clicking to Google maps, etc. Once you understand those customer goals, you can build ads that will resonate with those users. It helps to pay attention to the actions mobile visitors take to your site in general. Use your site analytics!
GMA: Have you seen certain ad types to be more effective on mobile than others? RP: Certainly - click to call on mobile is especially powerful for mobile, for all the obvious reasons. Of course, click to call is not applicable for every brand, but brands using the AdWords call extension have seen CTR increase by as much as 30%.
We’ve also seen great success with location extensions and hyperlocal. 1 in 3 searches have local intent so for any brand with brick and mortar locations these are very smart ad choices since they enable you to target users in the immediate vicinity of your location with ads that can draw them into the store - e.g. sales, limited time offers.We’ve seen a positive response from mobile site links as well. The ability to offer mobile users variety of choices from within a single ad is highly beneficial since it increases the liklihood of the users finding what he or she wants very quickly.
GMA:Are there any trends you’re seeing that brands should be wise to? MM: Well, if you have mobile apps, you’d be smart to test Ads for Apps. While the App Store and Android Market represent the most immediate channel for app discovery and download, search engines play a increasingly strong yet unrecognized role in app discovery. For some of our clients, we’re seeing a very strong click to download rate for their mobile applications from this new ad model. Moreover, experimenting with SEM for apps enables brands to gain that crucial understanding of how users search for mobile content.
GMA:Any closing advice? MM: Experiment, analyze and invest! Mobile search traffic is only going to increase. Now is the time to gain an understanding of your mobile customers and how to connect with them successfully!
We’d like to thank Rachel and iCrossing for taking the time to talk to us about their experience with Mobile Ads so far. To learn more, including how to get started and best practices, please visit the Google Mobile Ads site.
Posted by Sonja Lee, Product Marketing Manager, Mobile Ads
Mobile advertising has created an entirely new opportunity for businesses to drive phone calls to sales teams and call centers, generating a new method for our advertisers to receive qualified incoming leads. In fact, since we introduced the click-to-call feature to advertisers over a year ago, we’ve had more than half a million customers globally run campaigns with phone extensions. Two of the most common ways to get mobile customers to call you are either by listing your phone number on a click-to-call ad, or adding your phone number onto your website. It’s easy to measure calls from a click-to-call ad from your Campaign reports, but it can be more challenging to track the calls made by consumers clicking on the phone number on your website.
Today, we are introducing a new conversion tracking metric to help advertisers and agencies do just that: all AdWords accounts will now have the ability to report calls placed from mobile pages.
You’ll now be able to attribute clicks on your phone number or ‘call’ button back to the AdWords campaign, ad group, ad or keyword that brought a customer in. As this is a new tracking metric, there won’t be new charges or changes to CPCs. We hope that this new metric will give advertisers and agencies new, richer information on the value and returns from their mobile advertising.
Red Ventures, a customer acquisition company in Charlotte, NC, was a beta partner for this new conversion metric. In addition to their own proprietary in-house tracking platform, they used this new metric to track the use of click-to-call numbers on their mobile websites for a variety of partners. John Sutton, VP of Online Marketing at Red Ventures, said, “Now, every advertiser can get full insight into calls generated from their AdWords spend on mobile devices, directly inside the AdWords interface and at a very granular level.” Moreover, John sees this as a new added benefit to AdWords advertisers who “don’t have the capability required to produce unique keyword or ad level phone numbers on their mobile websites.”
This new metric enables all advertisers to leverage existing AdWords tools to now optimize for calls. According to John Sutton at Red Ventures, this “opens the doors to participation in AdWords features that rely on conversion metrics like Enhanced CPC and Target CPA bidding.” You can start using this new metric by installing a snippet of code on your landing pages. Upon doing so, you can set ‘calls’ as a conversion metric to track on your landing page. Next, you can pair calls focused campaigns with tools like Conversion Optimizer, then bid by setting a target CPA for calls, and ultimately automate ad serving to optimize for calls.
If driving calls is an important part of your mobile advertising strategy, and you’ve placed a phone number or ‘Call now!’ button on your site, begin measuring these calls now using this new conversion type. Moreover, in doing so you’ll be able to leverage a rich set of existing AdWords tools available to you to optimize performance. For more information on how to set this up, please see our Help Center article.
Posted by Surojit Chatterjee, Product Manager, Mobile Ads
